Palladium Books® Weekly Update – January 31, 2013

By Kevin Siembieda

It has been a busy week of mixed activity and results. I’ve done a good amount of writing and I’m very satisfied with it. I think you guys and gals will love what we have in store for you. I just wish we were moving even faster on all fronts.

I haven’t been posting a lot because we’ve all been very busy with a number of projects and assignments. Excitement continues to run high. If I don’t sound really up, it’s because my focus is on finishing books and I’m a bit distracted.

UPDATE: Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook

Everyone who has seen even a sliver of this book has gone wild over what they’ve seen. As in, “Wow, the book is worth it for this alone.” Chuck Walton was the latest to ooh and ah when he turned in his art for the Werejaguars. He loved the ideas behind the Bone Werejaguars and their bone magic, as well as Soulcraft Magic, Dark Weapons and, well, everything. He really got excited when he learned about my plans for Doc Reid and Reid’s Rangers. It’s inspiring when I get such positive reactions like that, because it confirms I’m on the right track. Chuck spent 5 hours at the office working on art for the Vampires book and Northern Gun. I want Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook to blow people away. See the full description elsewhere in this Update.

Rifts® World Book 25: Rifts® China 2 – Coming back in print next week

Rifts® China 2 is at the printer and will be available as a short printing by Wednesday, February 6th. This is another fun world book with a wide range of source material by the late, great, Erick Wujcik. There new martial arts and dozens of Martial Arts Powers, magic weapons, the Celestial Court, the high-tech Geofront, and a wide range of unique O.C.C.s like the Demon Queller, Enlightened Demon (yes, as a player character), Goblin Wrangler, Blind Mystic, Soothsayer, Chi-Gun Seng Ren Monk, and other goodies. I’m glad this book is coming back in print. It was one of the last things Erick wrote for Palladium and is outstanding. See the full description elsewhere.

Rifts® Aftermath – Available now

Rifts® Aftermath arrived as a short printing on Tuesday, January 29th, just as we had announced. Those of you who had orders with us, your books are on the way. Rifts® Aftermath is packed with setting information and adventure ideas for Rifts North America and Rifts Earth in general. See the full description elsewhere.

UPDATE: More Titles Are Coming Back in Print

The next book going in to reprint is Rifts® Lone Star, to be followed by Adventures on the High Seas™ for Palladium Fantasy®, Chaos Earth™: Rise of Magic™, and other titles in the weeks ahead.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #61 – Available Now!

People are liking The Rifter® #61, available now. It is another fun, source material packed issue for a wide range of world settings, including Heroes Unlimited™, After the Bomb®, Rifts®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies™, and others. If it’s time to renew your Rifter® subscription, or if you’ve been thinking about starting a subscription, this is the time to do it – during our Rifter® Super-Subscription Drive, going on for the next few weeks.

FREE gift when you subscribe now. We make this offer once a year, for a limited time, so you only have till February 20, 2013, to renew your subscription – or to start one – at a discount, plus you get a FREE gift and, in the USA, Palladium pays for the shipping of each issue of The Rifter®. See the full description elsewhere in this Update and in the online store. Don’t miss out. And don’t wait till the last minute.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #61 Sneak Preview is now available on DriveThruRPG.com

DriveThruRPG.com is also your place to get PDFs of older products as well as sneak previews of upcoming books. Many back issues of The Rifter® are available on DriveThruRPG.com (issues #1-52), as are more than 90 out of print titles such as Rifts®, BTS™ and Palladium Fantasy® first edition rule books and sourcebooks. There are some currently available titles too, like the Splicers® RPG, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy and other good stuff. And we have not forgotten about the PDF only editions of The Rifter® #0.1 and The Rifter® #0.2 – both are big, juicy digital editions of new, fan created material for the Palladium Megaverse® of games.

DriveThruRPG.com also offers the Rifts® and Palladium Fantasy® Game Master Kits ($5 each; both written by Carl Gleba and complete with maps, combat matrix, character sheets, spell list, and 20 pre-rolled characters created by Julius Rosenstein). Of course, there are FREE Sneak Previews of Endless Dead™, Rifts® Lemuria, Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™, and Thundercloud Galaxy™, as well as 90+ out of print titles, including back issues of The Rifter®, and first edition rule books for Rifts®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, The Mechanoid Invasion® Trilogy, and lots of other good things. ALL available as PDF downloads at reasonable prices. And there is MORE to come.

UPDATE: Northern Gun™ One

I met with Chuck Walton this week and we roughed out the designs for the latest two NG robots. Man, his work is excellent. The two Northern Gun books are going to be epic. Some of the O.C.C. art has started to come in as well.

UPDATE: Robotech® UEEF Marines™ Sourcebook One

I’ve got artists lining up to work on this book already. Should get the finished manuscript anytime now, though I told the author to take an extra week or so if he felt he needed or wanted it.

UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics™

There continues be a lot of exciting activity on Robotech® RPG Tactics™: Defense of Macross Island™ as it is in full-scale development. I’ll know more after my telephone conversation tomorrow with the Creative Director on the project. The 3D sculpt for the Zentraedi Regult Tactical Battlepod came in this week. Niiiice. As I said, all the key people involved on this project are, themselves, Robotech® fans and we want to make a beautiful and fun game that will thrill Robotech® fans everywhere.

UPDATE: Mike Mumah

Mike is doing well with physical therapy and is at a rehab facility where he’ll be receiving speech and physical therapy. We will keep you posted on developments. Mike remains in our prayers and we all continue to wish him and his family well. It is odd not getting emails and telephone calls from that big lug. We miss you Mike, hang in there.

That’s the news for now. Our top priority is finishing Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook and moving on to the NG books. Keep those imaginations burning bright and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer and Gamer

Rifts® World Book 25: Rifts® China 2 – Back in print

At the printer. Available to ship next week as a special short printing. This book has it all! Martial arts, wondrous mystic martial art powers, Chi channeling, Chi powers, Chi weapons, magic items, and a lot of special abilities and powers that will blow your mind! Plus, great warriors, demon hunters and their tricks of the trade, blind mystics, fortune tellers, Spirit Hosts (half-man and half-animal spirit), Enlightened Demons (as player characters!), and heroes, powers and special abilities galore.

For you high-tech junkies, there are wonders from Geofront with things like Demon Skin body armor, the Gun Dragon, Black Tiger power armor, high-powered weapons, select vehicles, the Demon Eater and Assault Geo-Borgs and the incomparable Gun Master. Rifts® China One set the stage, presented the nefarious Yama Kings and their demonic henchmen. Rifts® China Two presents the heroes out to stop them.

Rifts® Aftermath – Back in Print – Available now

This world-spanning sourcebook examines the changing landscape of North America and the rest of the planet in the aftermath of the Coalition’s Siege on Tolkeen. Somehow, North America seems to be more dangerous than ever before, and things are about to get worse.

The Coalition Army continues its occupation of Tolkeen, the fallen Kingdom of Magic, bulldozing the cities, flushing out resistance fighters and capturing its secrets. The CS intends to wipe the Kingdom of Tolkeen from existence, and use its secrets of magic as bait to lure out other enemy forces and destroy other enemies of the CS. However, the Coalition’s war has stretched the nation thin, and the CS must worry about other rivals and adversaries.

A sweeping overview of North America and the world, 109 P.A., after the fall of Tolkeen.

The Coalition’s plans for domination and its war on magic.

Coalition Magic Recovery Teams and the race for magic and secrets.

Coalition bounties on war criminals and the fate of refugees.

Tolkeen Resistance Fighters, their strategies and rescue operations.

The Second Juicer Uprising!

Demons, monsters and Iron Juggernauts run amok.

Archie Three, the Federation of Magic, the Dark Woods and beyond.

Written by Kevin Siembieda. Art by Wilson, Williams, Perez and others.

The Rifter® #61 – Available Now

The Rifter® is an idea factory that helps players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and keep their games fresh. It provides useful, ready to go, source material gamers can just drop into their ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new monsters, villains, characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, adventure and ideas for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least two or three other Palladium game lines.

The Rifter® #61 is an extravaganza of source material that deals with a wide range of fun and diverse people, places, mutants, magic, gadgets, equipment and abilities. All certain to provide ideas for new villains and adventures. Many different Palladium RPG settings are represented. This issue includes:

Rifts®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies™ – Vergence is a dimension created and inhabited by True Atlanteans and is one of their oldest colonies. As if that weren’t exciting enough, this article includes new Magic Tattoos, the Atlantean Archon O.C.C., new Stone Magic, magic staves, adventure ideas and more.

Rifts® City of Charter™ – The City of Charter, its history, people, places and purpose.

After the Bomb® and Heroes Unlimited™ – A host of new Mutant Animals of England. These mutants can be used in Heroes Unlimited™ and adapted to just about any Palladium world setting, including Rifts® and Phase World®, where they could be aliens rather than mutants.

Heroes Unlimited™ – The British anti-supervillain organization known as C.A.M.E.L.O.T.™, its agents, super-weapons, super-vehicles and purpose. Many adventure ideas.

Palladium Fantasy®, Short Story – The Heart Taker is a tale of horror and adventure that will leave you breathless.

ALL Game Settings – Charm & Impress, the Key to Success offers optional rules and guidelines for using the bonuses for high Physical Beauty.

The Rifter® – Super-Subscription Offer

● Free gift

● Free shipping of each issue in the USA

● Each fun issue delivered to your doorstep

● Each issue a sourcebook for the Palladium Megaverse® written by fans and freelancers. Looking for fresh, bold ideas, adventures, new places to visit, new people and monsters to encounter, new weapons or powers to attain, and other new source material for your games? Then The Rifter® is for you.

Super-Subscription Offer: The cover price of The Rifter® is $11.95 – a steal for 96 pages of RPG source material and adventures – but a subscription gets you The Rifter® delivered to your doorstep and you can select a free gift worth $20.95-$25.90 (available only during this special offer, for the cost of shipping and handling). All prices are in U.S. dollars. Offer ends February 20, 2013.

$39.80 – USA. That’s only $9.95 each, a savings of $8.00, and Palladium pays the shipping! Plus you get to select a FREE subscriber’s gift worth $20.95-$25.90 (please include $6.00 to cover shipping and handling). That’s $45.80 total including shipping and handling for the free gift. Note: This rate is limited to subscribers in the USA only. Sorry.

$61.80 – Canada. That’s $15.45 for each issue of The Rifter®, plus you get to select the FREE subscriber’s gift (please include $9.00 to cover shipping and handling). That’s $70.80 including the gift item. That’s still not a bad price for a 96 page sourcebook. Our apologies on the higher cost, but Palladium Books can not cover the cost of postage to other countries. We hope you understand.

$75.80 – Overseas. That’s $18.95 for each 96 page issue, plus you get to select a FREE subscriber’s gift (please include $18.00 to cover shipping and handling). That’s $93.80 including the gift item. We are only passing along the additional postage cost, but it is hefty. Our apologies. Postal rates are out of our hands. Likewise, the purchaser is responsible for any duty or customs fee.

Note: Please indicate if the gift item is NOT wanted. You may decline the gift and get your subscription for the regular price of $39.80 (USA), $61.80 (Canada) or $75.80 (other countries).

A FREE gift worth $20.95 to $25.90

You pay only the cost of shipping and handling ($6.00 in the USA, $9.00 Canada, and $18.00 overseas).

● Gift choice #1: Best of The Rifter® and Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs™; two books ($25.90 value).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please include shipping and handling to receive your FREE gift: $6.00 in the USA, $9.00 Canada, $18.00 overseas. Thank you. You can decline the free gift and pay only the subscription price if you wish.

PLEASE indicate what issue number you’d like your new subscription to start at: #60 (last issue), #61 (the current issue), #62 (next issue, April 2011), or the issue when your current subscription ends (please give the number if you know it).

Dead Reign™ RPG – Back in print

Okay, we never quite ran out. We were down to our last case of books when the third printing arrived from our printer.

Can you survive in a world where the dead have risen and feed upon the living? Battle zombies, mad men and death cultists in a post-apocalyptic world where the last of humanity struggles to survive.

Dead Reign™ RPG is the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Civilization is gone, the dead reign, and the living fight to survive against impossible odds. Tales of zombies, human survival and horror as a fast-paced, easy to learn game and sourcebooks. Think you know zombies? Think again.

Easy to learn, easy to play, and fast paced.

Clean, simple rules and quick character generation, and a depth of information and setting.

Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™ – In final production

In final production and looking outstanding. It should go to the printer soon and ship mid-February.

New secrets, magic and monsters of Mexico and the Yucatan. New conflicts between rival forces are brewing as Doc Reid prepares to take his private war on vampires to a whole new level. Meanwhile, the vampires live like smug tyrants and gods, dominating an underclass of cattle people used as slaves and food stock. Learn more about the vampires, their rivals, allies and the humans who willingly serve their supernatural masters for a chance to join the undead. A must-have guide for those who wish to travel deeper into the Vampire Kingdoms or play as vampires and their human minions. In final production right now, with art and text coming in and final editing and writing in progress.

Updated data on Doc Reid, Reid’s Rangers and new weapons, gear, and strategies for fighting vampire.

Rifts® World Book 33: Northern Gun™ One

The long-awaited Rifts® Northern Gun™ One nears completion.

Northern Gun™ is the largest independent manufacturer of high-tech weapons, robots and vehicles in North America. Outside of the Coalition States, one could argue, no other kingdom is as powerful or influential, at least when it comes to technology and weapons. The manufacture and sale of Northern Gun weapons and vehicles has given virtually every kingdom, town, colony of settlers and adventurer group a chance to survive and prosper. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, NG has been the premier outfitter of mercenaries, adventurers and upstart kingdoms for generations. Now, for the first time ever, learn Northern Gun’s history, goals and plans for the future. Of course, that means new weapons, robots, power armor, vehicles and gear.

In-depth look at Northern Gun: its business operations and its community.

Rifts® World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames™

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. Demons, Deevils and supernatural beings run rampant and wreak havoc across the world.

Demon plagues and mystic blights.

Soulmancy and Blood Magic revealed.

Magical and demonic weapons and war machines.

Demonic armies, strongholds and places of evil.

Hell Pits and Rune Forges.

Many Demon Lords, their minions and plans.

Calgary, the Kingdom of Monsters; in detail.

Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies’ Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.

Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.

Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.

Notable demonic generals, mercenaries, people and places.

Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.

Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include:

Don’t forget about these recent releases

Robotech® Genesis Pits™ Sourcebook – Available now

This is a truly epic sourcebook that takes an in-depth look at the Invid Genesis Pits, their purpose, function, the mutants and monsters they unleash and the dangers they pose for non-Invid. It is jam-packed with never before seen source material, mutations, mutation tables (so you can generate your own Genesis Pit monsters and characters) and more. Robotech® fans have been loving this book.

Inorganics and other war machines of the Invid Regent.

Gura-Invid – monstrous mutant Invid that do not leave when the Regess and her Invid legions depart Earth.

Bioroid and Zentraedi mutants, Simulagents and more.

Different types of Genesis Pits from across the galaxy.

Tables for creating Genesis Pit Mutants and Monsters as player characters and NPC villains.

Rifts® Black Market™ – Softcover Edition – Available now

See what everyone is talking about and order yours today. Rifts® Black Market™ is an epic, 192 page sourcebook that contains a wealth of information about the inner workings of the Black Market, the Five Factions, new Bandito Arms/Black Market weapons and gear, how to make any O.C.C. a Black Marketeer, special abilities of the Black Marketeer, criminal enterprises, Black Market loans, merc and crime jobs, and much more. This book has it all. AND best of all, a lot of it can be easily adapted to just about any world setting, not just Rifts Earth.

Rules to make any O.C.C. (or R.C.C.) a Black Marketeer.

Special abilities and benefits of the Black Marketeer.

Specialized O.C.C.s of the Black Market.

Criminal enterprises, jobs, and inner workings of the Black Market.

The Five Black Market Factions that wield the greatest power in North America: Bandito Arms, The Chicago Network, The Immaterial Hand, El Oculta, and Le Marche Noir.

Everything you want to know about the Black Market of Rifts® North America presented inside a pair of gorgeous black leatherette covers. Gold foil embossing on front cover and spine. Historically, gold collector editions only increase in value on the collector’s market, and often quickly. This is the lowest number of a Collector’s Gold Edition that Palladium has ever printed.

Striking Black leatherette cover with gold foil embossing.

Limited “Collector’s Edition” – only 250 signed and numbered copies were made available. About half have already sold.

Back in Print and Great Gift Ideas

The Rifter® #50, Anniversary Special – back in print due to popular demand

You might think of The Rifter® #50 as a special “all-star” anniversary issue with official source material for Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane® and many other Palladium RPG settings.

The Rifter® #50 includes:

Chaos Earth™ – Official source material that includes psionics and three new psychic O.C.C.s: Charismatic O.C.C., Reactionary O.C.C. and Teke Freak O.C.C. Written by Jason Richards. Art by Allen and Brian Manning.

Heroes Unlimited™ – Official source material about fame, glory and infamy for heroes and the legacy they create. Written by Mark Oberle. Art by Mark Dudley.

Nightbane® – Official source material on the new O.C.C. known as the Mortificant or Death Caller. Written by Irvin Jackson. Art by Kent Burles.

Splicers® – Official source material that includes three new O.C.C.s: The Geneticist O.C.C., Tormentor O.C.C., and the Gardener O.C.C., and more. Written by Brandon Aten and Matthew Orr. Art by Chuck Walton.

Upcoming Appearances

Anime North – May 24-26, 2013 – Toronto, Canada

I am one of the guests at Anime North in Toronto, Canada. The event takes place Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, 2013. Wayne Smith and one or two other Palladium creators will also be present to chat and sign autographs. We also hope to bring a pile of books, prints and other goodies to sell in the dealers’ room. www.animenorth.com

Gen Con® Indy – August 15-18, 2013 – Indianapolis, Indiana

We can hardly wait for Gen Con this year as we hope to have advance copies of Robotech® RPG Tactics™: Defense of Macross Island™ there. Not to mention a stock of new releases from throughout the year. We may even need to expand the size of our booth. Hope to see many of you there.